It’s been known for some time that Dhafir ‘Dada 5000’ Harris was rushed to hospital suffering from renal failure following his third round TKO loss to Kimbo Slice at Bellator 149 in February, but the heavyweight fighter claims there was more to it than that.
“Yes I did have kidney failure during the fight,” Harris wrote on Instagram, before later deleting the post. “I also had [two] heart attacks which I did code aka died during the fight.
Harris, who had cut 40lbs to make the heavyweight limit for the grudge match between the two bareknuckle brawlers, appeared to tire quickly in the fight, as did Kimbo, which resulted in an extremely sloppy fight that finally ended in the third round when ‘Dada’ staggered across the cage and collapsed from what appeared to be sheer exhaustion more than the force of the punch he’d just received.
“Yes I trained very hard for this fight and I was in fighting shape. But those who knew me, they knew something wasn’t right by the look in my eyes when I stepped into that ring,” Harris said.
The fighter would spend a week in a Houston hospital recovering from the two heart attacks, renal failure, dehydation and fatigue, and received further treatment in a hospital in Miami after returning home.
“Thank you for all your prayers and support. I will make a full recovery and be back bigger, faster and stronger than ever before. That much you can count on.”
